Si! miner Meetimi. 65 



'i) 



-Some one asked me how long a tree would live after taking out of the 

 nursery. You might as well ask how long a man would live with his 

 head under water. They should be put in damp straw as soon as taken 

 up and planted as soon as possible. 



Pruning the roots is as important as pruning the tops. Trim back 

 to the good, healthy root. I believe all mutilated parts and the great long 

 roots should be cut back. The ground should be prepared thoroughly to 

 put them in. If you do not treat them right, they will die. I do not 

 know whether it is best to prune the tops before setting out or not. Bring 

 out the point how the tree should be pruned and taken care of. 



G. T. Tippin. — It is pretty hard to give this information. I believe 

 it is best to prune before putting in the ground. The object by which 

 to be guided and the point to reach is the new root system. The inexperi- 

 enced planter wants to get his trees from the nursery with all the roots 

 possible: in fact, he sometimes thinks he is injured if he does not get 

 all the root system. Those who believe that they ought to have all the 

 root system and that they ought to get the roots in the same position when 

 planting as they grew in the nursery, do that, feeling that they are doing 

 everything they can to start the tree off well. The truth is, however, 

 from my experience, that instead of those roots continuing to spread 

 out and form like they did before, they grow out more fibrous roots, 

 instead of continuing" through the soil as they would have done had they 

 never been moved. Trees in the nursery three years old, have few 

 fibrous roots, while if they are taken up and planted in that condition, 

 they will always have fibrous roots and not deep roots. Take a two 

 vear old tree from the nursery and trim the roots back to within three, 

 four or five inches of the trunk and plant it out. When the tree is estab- 

 lished, you will find the root system the same as if it had never been 

 moved. When the roots are all mashed down they become diseased and 

 the trees will not be as good as if pruned. I never pay any attention 

 to the hairy roots. If the tree is natural, it has none that are injurious. 

 If I planted a one year old tree, I would prune the same way. It is not 

 practical to prune to such a great extreme. As to the top, I have always 

 advocated pruning the top when planting. My success has been better 

 by cutting them back. I have planted trees for twenty years and have 

 found better success by pruning the tops as well as the roots. 



L. A. Goodman. — More trees are lost from planting and handling 

 than after. Wlien trees are in good condition and well handled, there is 

 no reason the tree should die. I have planted as many as seventy or 

 eighty thousand trees and we never think of losing any trees. If I find 



H-5 



